To Guide the Heavenly
by OmniousInsinuation
Summary: The shrine sat on the edge of the eightieth district for centuries. With no god to serve, what purpose does it have? Warning! Has OC's!
1. Chapter 1

***Insert General Disclaimer here***

* * *

It was on the outer edge of the eightieth district of west rukongai that the small shrine resided. It was a nicely built shrine and even had a small koi pond out back despite the state of it's surrounding districts. The surrounding area was well taken care of and was complete with two fox statues guarding the entrance. Often people would come and take refuge in the shrine be it from the weather or simply the other residents of rukongai. But what protected the people who took shelter there was not a god as many people in the living world believed, but infact two sisters that resided there.

No one in the eightieth district knew about the sisters as they had never seen them. Both were extremely cautious and dealt with any problems unseen. However there was one time when someone had seen the duo at the shrine. It was only a passing glance and the shinigami patrolling the area thought nothing of it.

That is until now.

****All the captains save for the missing captain of the ninth division were on guard. The meeting reinstating Gin and Shinji as captains had been interrupted.

In the middle of the captain's meeting stood the lone intruder clad in a shinigami uniform and the familiar mask that Gin Ichimaru had seen long ago.

The captains watched warily each reaching for the hilt of their zanpakuto. None of them had sensed the reiatsu of the intruder until she had made herself known.

The intruder merely stared intently at the head captain. She was rather short, a little shorter than Hitsugaya-taichou now that he had gone through a small growth spurt, and stood around 4'8". She was clearly past hers though as her chest was rather large, though not as large as Matsumoto's, topping the hourglass shape her body had that most women strived for. The paper mask had the kanji for stars written in black ink, which could been seen clearly as the plain paper had no holes in it. Some of the captains wondered if the intruder was another Tosen. Her hair was tied up in a short ponytail with her bangs framing her face. It was a ocean blue on the top and seamlessly faded down into a dark navy at the bottom. She stood firm in the middle of the room under all the gazes, her hand resting calmly on the hilt of her zanpakuto which was a deep blue. The wakizashi was safely tied to her waist just below the eight-pointed star that formed the guard.

"You dare intrude here?" The soutaichou boomed. "State your name and purpose, it is clear that you don't belong to any division!"

The intruder bowed to the head captain and began her explanation. "My name is Mei-yin and I am here to become a captain of the gotei 13 by the means of trial by combat." She stated. "But it appears that the captain of the division I wanted is missing so I must do so another way." She sighed. "Besides it was time I introduced myself to you Soutaichou as well as the rest of the captains. I'm sure you've noticed that someone has been taking care of the hollows hanging around the poorer districs that you can't get to in time."

"That's impossible. There is no way you have been single handedly killing all the hollows that had appeared there!" Mayuri screeched. "Perhaps on some instances but the ones where there were over 100 hollows? I don't believe it! They were gone before we could even dispatch someone to the area, let alone have enough time for you to kill them!"

"Who said I was alone?" Mei-yin countered. "Despite what you may think, I am in fact skilled enough to become a captain. Hard times are coming and you will need all the help you can get."

"And how do we know we can trust you?" Hitsugaya asked, glaring at Mei-yin.

"You can't afford not to." She said lowly with a smirk from behind the mask.

Yamamoto slammed the end of his cane to the ground, stopping any further comments. "To intrude on such a meeting, and then to demand captaincy. I am intrigued as to how much power you think you have. You will take the captain proficiency test in front of all the captains tomorrow at noon. Should you impress me I shall grant you the position of captain. If you fail however, you will be eliminated." He told her.

Mei-yin bowed to the head captain. "Thank you, Soutaichou. I will not dissapoint." She said before shunpoing away.

"Hitsugaya-taichou, follow her. I want you to find out everything you can about her. If she shows to be a threat at all to Soul Society send a hell butterfly at once. I expect a report tomorrow morning at eleven hours." Yamamoto ordered.

The small captain nodded and left swiftly at once.

He followed her all the way to the eightieth district before he lost track of her. He scanned the crowd to see if he could track her but once again she had concealed her reiatsu. Thankfully the crowd seemed to disperse at the sight of a shinigami in the district leaving the roads bare. He wandered around for a quite a while, even knocking on doors and asking the residents if they had seen Mei-yin.

"Ya ain't gonna find 'lil Mei that way Shiro-kun."

"Why did you follow me Ichimaru? Soutaichou assigned me to this, not you." Toshiro asked coldly, turning to face the sly captain.

"Ah, but you don' know this area too well do ya? Not as well as I do anyways." He grinned. "I'll show ya where she's hidin'." Gin said as he walked around Toshiro and headed down the road.

Toshiro scowled but followed the sly taichou. He seemed to be the only one who knew what was going on here. The residents were useless.

Eventually the white haired duo made it to the small beaten path that lead to the shrine. Shunpoing in, it didn't take long for them to reach the entrance to the shrine.

"Why would they have a shrine when there is no god?" Toshiro asked himself quietly. Gin nodded. "Strange indeed." He agreed.

"It's not for the worship of a god, but for the familiarity of a safe haven for people to retreat to." A soft voice answered.

The two captains looked up to see a young woman exiting the shrine. She had long hair that reached to her mid back, the color matching her eyes which were a rich dark brown. She was almost as tall as Toshiro, only two inches below his height which he was proud to say was now 5'3". Aside form that she seemed to have the same figure as Mei-yin, right down to the lightly tanned skin tone. She wore something similar to the kensei uniform with a golden colored, long sleeved haori over it. The haori had a red trim with a black underside to it.

"You seem well dressed for someone in the eightieth district." Toshiro stated bluntly.

"We just take good care of our clothes. We've had these for ages." She smiled.

"We?" Gin asked, surprised.

"My sister and I." She smiled. "You should have known, you were following her after all. I didn't think you would find us but it seems you have a good memory, San-ban-taichou."

"And who would you be?" Asked the icy captain as he tried to detect their previous intruder.

"Mei-li" She replied with a low bow.

Gin nodded. "I knew there were two of ya when I came here last time. Didn' know it was you that killed the hollows."

"We didn't want to reveal ourselves to the Sereitei before it was necessary." She explained. "Why don't you come in for some tea? You should stay the night as well if you plan on collecting any information before tomorrow morning." She smiled.

"H-how?" Toshiro sputtered. "You weren't there! How could you know such information. Your sister had already left so don't tell me it was her."

"Oh?" How are you so sure I wan't there?" She smirked at him before she returned inside of the shrine, leaving the door open for the two of them.

"Well shall we lil' Taichou? It'll be rude to refuse such an offer after all." The sly captin began to walk towards the shrine as well, not waiting for an answer.

Toshiro followed along behind him though he never let his guard down even as he sat down at the small table.

Mei-li returned with the boiling teapot and gracefully poured each of them a cup. They each murmured their thanks as she sat down with her own cup in hand.

"I apologize for any trouble my sister may have caused when she interrupted your meeting." Mei-li began, "Normally we would have simply joined the academy and climbed up the ranks but we don't have that much time to spare."

"What do you mean by that?" Toshiro asked, curious. "You sister said something about hard times coming but she never said anything specific."

"We don't know what's going to happen as of yet but there have been whispers of a great disaster befalling this world." Mei-li paused for a moment and sighed. Perhaps they wouldn't notice….

"An' this won't affect the human world? Or do ya not know?"

Mei-li turned to Gin and smiled. "Ah, well we aren't to certain on that part as of yet."

"Mei-li! What are you telling them now?!"

The three of them turned towards the floor at the back of the shrine.

Toshiro narrowed his eyes at the figure that emerged from the hidden door. "You!"

"I have a name. Or did you forget already?" Mei-yin snapped. "The information she's giving you is not meant for your ears!"

"Ah, but it is." Mei-li smiled. "At least for Histugaya-san anyways."

Mei-yin walked up to the icy captain and examined him. "Ah. You're right." She nodded.

Toshiro managed to get a good look at her face which was masked before. Now he knew she wasn't fully blind as her golden eye stared into his own, looking like a fox with it's slit pupil. The left on the other hand, he wasn't so sure about. The eye was closed a little more on that side like it couldn't open completely. It was only noticeable up close to point where could see the pupil which looked like a half cooked egg yolk. There was no iris and the eye itself seemed to be misshapen a little as if something had impaled it.

The rest of her face was normal aside from that which he was thankful for. He wouldn't admit it but the eye wasn't pleasant to stare at and held in a sigh of relief as she moved away.

"What are you two insinuating?" He growled at them, the irritation directed more towards Mei-yin.

"Nothing that can't be seen." Mei-yin smirked. "I just thought the heavenly guardian would be a little more manly."

"Mei-yin! Stop being so rude." Mei-li chastised, though she herself was failing to hide her amusement.

"I told ya Shiro." Gin teased. "But what does that got ta do with lil'taichou here bein' worthy of your information?"

"Well who else would protect the world from the great disaster?" Mei-yin rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious.

Toshiro sighed and finished his tea before speaking again. "If you don't know what the disaster is, how do you know that I'm the one you need to prevent it?"

"We just do." Mei-yin replied, pouring herself a cup of tea. She lacked the grace her sister had in the action and missed the cup slightly. "Ah, sorry Li. I keep forgetting."

Mei-li simply sighed and handed her a cloth. "One of these days you'll forget when it matters most. I keep telling you but you don't seem to remember."

"I know." Mei-yin nodded. "But that's what you're here for." She grinned before quickly emptying the cup. "Alright. Now that were acquainted how about a friendly spar?"

* * *

**To be continued... possibly.**


	2. Chapter 2

_"Alright. Now that were acquainted how about a friendly spar?" _

* * *

Gin shook his head. "Are ya' sure? Me and lil' Taichou here might be a little too much for you two."

Mei-yin laughed. "Go easy on us then if you think that. But you'll regret it later!" She grinned.

Toshirou nodded. He had to get as much information on the two as possible so this could provide a great opportunity to do so.

"Well if lil' Shiro here says yes then I guess I'll go too." Gin hummed.

"Excellent." The sisters smiled. "Right this way please."

Mei-li led the way down into the basement. "We built this training area when we first discovered the one in the Sereitei. We didn't want to go there all the time so we built one here." She explained as the descended into the room.

"Looks exactly tha' same." Gin nodded, inspecting the area.

"That's right." Mei-yin nodded as she walked up to his side. "How about we have two fights and the ones not fighting can referee. First one to draw blood wins."

"Sounds good at' me. Though I didn't really plan on hurtin' ya."

"That's okay. I'm tough."

"I suppose you two can go first then. Hitsugaya-taichou, let's sit over here." Mei-li suggested to the small captain who nodded in agreement.

Toshiro hopped up next to Mei-li on the large boulder. Hopefully it would prove to be far enough away to stay out of any immediate danger. "All right. First one to draw blood will be the victor. Anything goes!" He announced.

"Begin!"

Gin and Mei-yin both flashed out of sight momentarily before reappearing with their blades crossed.

"A little impatient I see?"

Gin just smiled. "Jus' wanted ta see what ya' could do."

Mei-yin smiled back and flashed away again sending several blows his way. Gin blocked them all, each one sending him back as he was forced to defend. He searched for an opening which seemed to come few and far between.

There!

"Ikorose, Shinso." He commanded in a whisper. The blade shot out towards Mei-yin's undefended side causing her to stop her attack in order to block the oncoming threat.

"Shikai already? You must be out of practice." Mei-yin taunted as she continued to block his strikes. The tables had turned on her but she wasn't going to let it show just yet.

"I thought tha' maybe it would make ya show yours. I have ta' admit, 'm a lil' curious."

"Let's make a bet. If you can make me show my shikai in five minutes I'll join your squad instead of going for captain rank."

"Ya' really wanna be makin' such deals when ya're on the defensive."

"Five minutes Ichimaru-kun." She repeated as she overpowered one of his blocks and made her escape.

Gin followed after her, sending attack after attack. Mei-yin blocked most of them though a few managed to get in and swipe a few chunks off her sleeves.

Gin swore under his breath. He was never going to get her at this rate.

"Two minutes Ichimaru. Tick-tock."

Gin turned around just in time to block an attack aimed for his head. He parried her move quickly and shot Shinso forward for a quick attack.

Mei-yin simply smirked and drew a symbol in the air faster than his eyes could follow.

"Time's up." She said as the red light enveloped him.

Gin felt something cold press against his cheek for a moment and cursed inwardly. "Geki. How foolish of me ta get stuck in that." He said as he reached his hand up to his cheek. A small cut was left there.

"Winner, Mei-yin!" Mei-li cheered.

"You better show that kid who's boss." Mei-yin told her sister.

Mei-li nodded while Toshirou bristled at being called a kid.  
Toshirou settled into a stance, not bothering with his zanpakuto as of yet. It seemed Mei-li thought the same as she also had not made a move for her weapon.

Mei-yin raised her hand as the signal. "Begin!"

Mei-li let out a soft giggle as her image blurred and disappeared from view.

"Nani?" Toshirou whispered. 'Is this Kyokko?' He thought, reaching for Hyorinmaru. He scanned the area and was ready to negate her kido.

"Byakurai."

Toshirou spun around only to come face to face with Mei-li who's hand was raised towards him. He shunpoed out of the way with the kido missing him by less than an inch. He could feel the power radiating from the spell.

'It would be no use fighting if I don't even get to see what she can really do.' He thought. His hand grasped his long time companion as he gathered his strength.

"Soten ni zase, Hyorinmaru!"

Mei-li's eyes widened as the dragon came spiraling towards her.

"How cute." She giggled, raising her hand up to the great dragon.

Right before impact the dragon was stopped by what looked to be like beams of light. The beams pinned the ice in place before shattering the dragon, sending ice shards flying everywhere.

"What was tha'?" Gin asked, curious.

"A tie." Mei-yin smiled. "So careless. You should have been able to win Li. You shouldn't be so soft on him."

Mei-li sighed and nodded, her hand pressed to the slice a piece of the ice left on her cheek.

"Ya got somethin' on forehead Lil' Taichou." Gin grinned.

Toshirou reached up to where the small cut was. "Lost my chance because of a paper cut. How careless." He murmured. "How have we not managed to see them before? They are keeping something from us and I don't like it."

Gin nodded. "Tha's what it looks like. They don' seem like they wanna do any harm though." He hummed. "I know how ta tell."

"I still don't trust them." He told the other captain.

"I understan'" Gin agreed, letting his smile drop for a moment.

The two turned to the girls as they approached. "Now that that's out of the way I guess it's time to-"

Mei-yin was interrupted as a hell butterfly came and landed on Gin's finger.

"It seems we have ta move lil' Taichou." Gin said in a serious tone.

Toshirou gave him a worried glance. The man didn't seem to be joking at all.

"It seems tha' Aizen has escaped."


	3. Chapter 3

_"It seems tha' Aizen has escaped."_

* * *

The two captains left immediately, followed by the two girls.

"Things are happening a lot sooner than predicted." Mei-li whispered to her sister.

"Indeed they are. Hopefully we can find another solution before it's too late." Mei-yin nodded.

When the group made it to the Sereitei they were met with an awful sight. Most of the divisions were destroyed with the lower ranking shinigami trying to flee. The rest of the ones brave enough to fight felt like they were being consumed entirely by the overwhelming reiatsu emitted by the enemy.

Mei-yin and Mei-li continued on ahead, seemingly unfazed by the pressure, both drawing their zanpakuto.

"What are they doing!? They're going to die!" Toshirou growled, chasing after the two.

Gin nodded in agreement and followed behind him as they made their way to the battlefield.

Upon their arrival Mei-li cast a barrier around themselves and Aizen, giving a smile to Yamamoto who had been previously holding him off. "I apologize for interrupting." She bowed.

"What is your fool of a sister doing? What are you doing for that matter!?" Hitsugaya yelled at her. His fist beat against the barrier. "You have no idea what he is capable of!"

"I think it's the other way around Histugaya-taichou." Mei-li smiled. "We will be fine." She assured him before turning around and ignoring his protests.

Mei-yin on the other hand had blocked Aizen's previous attack meant for the head captain. "Enjoying your freedom, Jo-sun?"

"I believe you are mistaken. How is it that a child that has no knowledge of me is left to the slaughter? I thought the shinigami were more sensible than that. Or perhaps they're simply using you to buy more time." Aizen smirked.

"I see." Mei-yin hummed. "Perhaps I was mistaken. The hogyoku still hasn't fully awakened."

"What nonsense are you babbling about child?" He glared, his smirk turning into a menacing scowl.

"Nothing." Mei-yin teased. "Just being a distraction."

Aizen's eyes widened slightly as hundreds of golden beams pierced his body and limbs, immobilizing him.

"Spirit sealing: Army of heavenly spears." Mei-li recited, lowering her hand. She continued with the incantation as Aizen's reiatsu began to rise.

"Great light, dispel all darkness. Bind all those lost in the shadows and let your battalion consume-"

The sound of shattering glass echoed through all of soul society as Mei-li was thrown back through the barrier as it fell.

Mei-yin caught her before she could hit the ground and while supporting her sister, raised her hand to finish the incantation.

But Aizen was gone.

"Where?" She gasped, surprised for the first time in a long while.

The rest of the shinigami took a deep breath, finally able to breathe again as the pressure of the traitor's reiatsu was lifted.

"To think breaking the attack would weaken me so. This would be the best time to depart." Aizen smirked as he reappeared above the shinigami. He chuckled as they all settled into a fighting stance.  
"I suggest you all prepare." Aizen warned the shinigami as he ripped open a garganta and slipped away.

"NO!" Toshirou roared, leaping after the traitor and slashing at him. He was too late however, as the garganta had already closed.

"H-he got away…" Rukia whispered, leaning heavily on her zanpakuto for support.

"No… He didn't just get away… YOU! YOU LET HIM GO! THIS IS YOUR FAULT! THE BOTH OF YOU!" Toshirou snarled at the girls, shaking in anger. "IF YOU HAD LET US FIGHT, LET US IN THE BARRIER THEN-"

"THEN YOU WOULD HAVE DIED!" Mei-yin roared back. "I FELT YOU WAVER WHEN HIS REIATSU INCREASED, ALL OF YOU DID EXCEPT FOR THE SOUTAICHOU AND EVEN THEN HE'S SEVERELY INJURED! LOOK AROUND YOU! YOUR COMRADES ARE DYING AND YOU'RE YELLING AT ME!?"

Toshirou looked shocked at being yelled at, his anger replaced by the realization of the situation at hand. He looked at the other shinigami around him. If they weren't dead the rest of them, excluding Gin, were only barely standing. Unohana was directing several medical teams trying to save the injured before it was too late.

"I apologize for blaming you, but even so we could have helped. His escape could have been prevented. What makes you think you could have handled him on your own." Toshirou told her, having calmed down.

"You will find out when you start your training." She said coldly. "Now if you'll excuse me I need to tend to my sister."

She was about to leave when she was stopped by none other than Yamamoto. "I am going to have to ask you to stay within the Sereitei for the time being. I would like to speak with you privately after you care for your sister." He told her.

Mei-yin considered denying him the request but agreed anyways knowing it would help her in the future. "Very well. I will need a place to let her rest for the time being. Gin-san? Could I let her stay at your divison until she wakes up? The fourth is full enough as it is."

Gin nodded. "She can stay in my room. I won' be usin' it tonight anyways." He said, showing her the way. "Wha's wrong with her?"

"There are two parts to the spell she used on Aizen. If the two parts aren't used and the spell is broken then it will increase the backlash on the user. Combined with the blow she took it did a good deal of damage to her. She should be up in a few hours, but she'll be feeling the pain for the next few days." Mei-yin explained.

"Ah. I'll be doin' paperwork and helpin' with tha repairs all night so I'll keep an eye on her." He smiled.

"Thank you, Gin-san." Mei-yin smiled back.

Gin showed her the room and waited outside for her. Mei-yin came out a few moments later, thanking the captain.

"Ya know. Shiro-chan didn't really mean what he said." He told her. "He's jus' got lots o' pent up frustration and he jus' couldn't handle it no more."

"Tch. I know. It doesn't make it any nicer though." Mei-yin huffed. "I still can't believe he's the heavenly guardian of this world though. How close is he with his zanpakuto."

"Very." Gin replied.

Mei-yin nodded. "Good. Then he can help with the process."

Gin cocked his head to the side a little and pondered. "Wha' if he don' agree?"

Mei-yin simply smiled. "Oh I know he will. Just trust me on this one. Now if you'll excuse me I have a meeting with the head captain to get to." She told him as she slipped in through the door to the head captain's office. "Bye bye."

She closed the door behind her, leaving Gin alone once more.

"I suppose I should explain a few things before we really get started…" She began as she faced the old taichou.

The soutaichou watched her with heavy eyes and nodded slowly. "Indeed."

* * *

Mei-li awoke several hours later with a small groan. "I knew I should have used a different spell." She moaned.

"Ya did pretty well against Aizen. Ya managed ta pin him down a' least." Gin commented, handing her a cup of tea.

Mei-li thanked him and looked around. "I'm assuming this is your quarters? It smells like you." She smiled.

"Do I smell?" He asked, sniffing himself.

Mei-li giggled and shook her head.

"She smells everything I swear. Apparently I smell like honey and tea." Mei-yin said, rolling her eyes.

"But you do!" Mei-li pouted. "I see you got your captain rank."

"I had to explain everything to the soutaichou. Everything." Mei-yin sighed. "He also said that you should join the tenth division to help the guardian with his training. That way we can all be close by. He has already written you in as the third seat if you accept."

Mei-li nodded. "We can train Ichimaru-taichou as well. That is if he wants to."

"Ah, tha' would be nice. Do I get to learn those fancy kido o' yours?"

"They aren't Kido as such but you can probably use them. You need a partner to work on it anyways so that way we can teach you along with Toshirou." Mei-yin told him.

"When are ya' startin'?" he asked the two.

Mei-yin grinned evilly. "Tomorrow morning before Toshirou wakes up. It'll be a lovely surprise for him."


End file.
